Sometimes life defies description. But I'll try anyway.

Well, That Happened

I woke up this morning determined to write something happy for a change. After a long series of depressing, soul-baring posts, I vowed to blog about something a bit cheerier before my followers all end up in need of anti-depressants. Today, I promised, I would write in response to the Daily Prompt, no matter what it was.

So here’s todays’s Daily Prompt:

Unexpectedly, you lose your job (or a loved one, or something or someone important to you). What do you do next?

Really?!

Seriously, come on, guys.

How in the hell am I supposed to put an upbeat twist on that? I can talk about loss. Sometimes I feel like all I ever talk about is losing people and things. In less than three years, I have lost my job, my career, my mobility, my marriage, my home, my self-esteem and at times, my will to live.

Okay, so, what do I do next? Survive, apparently. I’m going to play with today’s topic a little bit and turn it into “What did you do next?”

I got mad. In each case, with each loss, I got really pissed off. At the Van Buren County Road Commission, at my husband, at life, at God.

I cried. A lot.

I talked about it. And talked. And wrote. And talked and wrote some more. I talked about writing about it. I wrote about talking about it. I watched people’s eyes glaze over and still talked about it some more.

I ate a lot.

I cried some more.

I threw up a lot.

I laughed. At some really inappropriate things during some very awkward moments. I made stupid, tasteless jokes about my situation, and I laughed until I cried. Then I laughed at myself for crying, and I thanked God for the sense of humor that is my source of strength.

I made plans, and I swallowed my pride long enough to call on my friends for help with those plans. Like my mom used to say, there comes a time when one must “shit or get off the pot”.

I took the high road whenever possible. Hurt like hell sometimes, but I did it.

I repeated 1-9, in no particular order. Over and over and over.

I had all kinds of quotes I wanted to use here. Brainy stuff. Deep, philosophical stuff. Goethe, Frost, Tennyson. I even had a great one from Dolly Parton. But the best thing anyone has ever said about dealing with loss comes from Dr. Seuss:

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

Yup. I’d say that sums it all up pretty well. Smiles, everyone. Smiles.

really enjoyed this blog…. what I have learnt… life is a messy business…. most important things are not easily fixed if fixable at all…. enjoy the good bits…. tomorrow is another day…. onwards and upwards… 🙂